The present invention relates generally to fence systems and, in particular, to mounting brackets for attaching fence rails to fence posts.
Plastic fence construction has become more prevalent in recent years as wood fences have many disadvantages, such as being relatively heavy for a given strength, splitting and breaking under impact. In addition, wood will tend to rotten decay under most conditions and must be protected either by a preservative finish using an expensive chemical treatment or else painted with an appropriate decorative finish which must be reapplied periodically. Thus, wood fencing requires continuing costs of maintenance and repair.
Such wood fencing has accordingly been replaced in many instances by plastic fencing, such as fencing constructed of polyvinyl chloride or PVC which is strong, durable, easily manufactured and requires little maintenance.
Typical fence systems include vertical posts, horizontal rails extending between the posts, and often vertical pickets, boards or panels secured to and between the rails.
Plastic fence systems molded of vinyl or other plastic have become popular because of their durability and low cost. In such fence systems, plastic or metal brackets are mounted to the post to support the rails. The brackets are usually mounted to the post by metal screws, and then metal screws are inserted through holes in the brackets and into the rails to secure the rails to the brackets. The bottom walls of the brackets initially support the weight of the rails, the side rails of the brackets hold the rails in place on the bottom walls, and the screws that secure the rails to the brackets keep the rails from being upwardly dislodged from the brackets. These screws are typically made of very high grade aluminum so that they will not corrode and stain the fencing.
Examples of such plastic fence systems may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,193, and U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2004/0195561 and 2010/0270526.
In situations wherein the fence panels running between the horizontal fence rails run up very close to the vertical posts, the entire fence panel is unitary and must be inserted and removed by vertically lowering or raising the panel from the top of the fence to the bottom rail hangers. This means that there must be no supporting rail hanger surface in the upper brackets and any intermediate brackets as the bottom rail ends are required to completely pass downwardly through the upper brackets and continue on to finally rest at the bottom of the fence structure on the floor or bottom walls of the bottom rail hanger brackets.
Accordingly, the installation and removal of large fence panels cannot be accomplished by a single individual with the prior art systems as two persons are required at each end of the fence panels to either lower them into position or fully raise them to remove the fence panels.
In this latter situation where solid fence panels are provided which extend fully between the vertical fence posts, the rail hanger brackets are molded of plastic and provided with in turned lips at their bottom side ends to provide bottom rail end hanger support walls. Since, in this situation, there can be no bottom wall in the upper and any intermediate brackets, these brackets are molded of plastic and the bottom in turned lips providing the hanger bottoms for the rails must be broken off so that all the rail ends may pass downwardly or upwardly through the upper brackets.
It is a principal object of the present invention to eliminate these disadvantages and provide fence rail hanger brackets which permit a single individual to easily install and remove large fence panel sections.